Friday, June 20, 2025

Kade Alexie | Pit Stop / 2024

talking

by Douglas Messerli

 

Kade Alexie (screenwriter and director) Pit Stop / 2024 [10 minutes]

 

Two men meet up in a car, in what one calls a “pit stop,” after a Grindr connection. The first man,

a Latino named Lalo (Jason Caceres) immediately goes for the cock, while the black man, Justin (Kade Alexie) admits he’s not hard yet.


     So instead, the two sit back and talk a bit, getting to know one another—a rare thing on Grindr dates. Lalo discovers that Justin works at a restaurant to support himself, but is struggling to become a comedian. Lalo, in turn, is a would-be actor who “sometimes” goes to auditions, except that there aren’t many roles for Latino men, just as a slightly overweight black man finds few venues.

     They also discuss relationships, Lalo just wanting a man to support him so that he can cook and keep the house clean, his favorite activities in life. He’s even thought about joining a monastery, where he could just pray and make beer—but then, he admits, he would have to give up sex; not a good choice for him. 


  Lalo finally admits, when asked how his search for a husband going, he reveals an engagement ring. His lover, however, is not truly interested in sex, allowing Lalo to meet up with others for sexual activities.

     Justin admits that he’s just been on a date where the man he met far too serious religion and simply boring.

     They continue to talk, Lalo seeing life as a constant action of suffering, Justin as something that allows one to evolve every day, making him ultimately a better person. He too wants a relationship, but Lalo argues that he himself is not the one for Justin.

      Justin argues that Lalo deserves better than the man he is planning to marry.


      After, they spontaneously kiss, both fully enjoying the experience; but it’s time for Lalo to go in, and he doesn’t see the same person twice, he announces. Justin convinces him, nonetheless, to take his number, even if he later deletes it.

      Before he’s even driven off, however, Lalo has texted him on how he too enjoyed his company.  Except for Justin being unable to support Lalo’s home-bound life, they seem to be the perfect couple, and director Alexie leaves us with that vague possibility, even if it is without any likelihood.

      Nonetheless, both have experienced something about what a relationship is truly like, with the ability to discuss freely and openly about one’s feelings and ideas.

      This has been for both an enlightening “pit stop,” allowing both men to see new possibilities in their love lives.

 

Los Angeles, June 20, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (June 2025). 

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